Patna:
Amid reports of rifts involving the BJP and the Janata Dal United – senior members of Bihar’s ruling alliance, there had been indicators of a truce on Sunday soon after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s party – the JDU – indicated it did not want to escalate matters any additional.
At the finish of a two-day meeting of the JDU state executive, Lalan Singh, who is the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha, told reporters “we are with the (BJP-led) NDA”. He dismissed rumours suggesting a additional breakdown of what was a fragile connection in the run-up to November elections, in which the BJP claimed 74 seats to the JDU’s 43 to emerge as the stronger of the two parties.
“In the last two days, as the party was meeting, there was a lot of speculation. We want to make it clear… we are with the NDA. During the meeting we realised that although our seat share had been reduced, our vote share had not. We will strengthen the party,” Mr Singh mentioned.
Mr Singh also confirmed senior leader Umesh Kushwaha had been unanimously elected the chief of the party’s state unit, and that the JDU would work to fulfill Nitish Kumar’s seven poll promises.
अब सुनिए ललन सिंह की अटकलों पर सफ़ाई कि उनके नेता नीतीश कुमार और उनकी पार्टी जनता दल यूनाइटेड एनडीए में क्यों रहेगी ।@india @Anurag_Dwary @NitishKumar pic.twitter.com/7iSfLEJufq
— manish (@manish) January 10, 2021
The declaration of goodwill, although, was in contrast to outbursts by numerous JDU leaders who lost seats in final year’s Assembly election a lot of openly accused the BJP of backstabbing its ally.
Nitish Kumar himself launched an indirect attack on Saturday, claiming his party struggled to win seats simply because of delayed seat-sharing talks involving the two parties. He mentioned the JDU had “paid a big price” and that “false propaganda was spread against my party” – a veiled reference to LJP chief Chirag Paswan, who a lot of saw as the election’s ‘x-factor’.
Nevertheless, it seems the party has, for now at least, decided on repairing its ties with the BJP.
“We must strive to work for all those who voted for us as well as those who did not. I urge candidates who lost to devote themselves to serving the people with gusto,” Mr Kumar mentioned Saturday.
The opposition, although, has a distinct take on the matter.
RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav, who quite almost led his party (and the mahagathbandhan) to energy, mentioned Nitish Kumar was a “bargainer” and was only “blackmailing” his ally.
“If you look at Nitishji‘s past… whether it is George Fernandes, Congress or our party.. who hasn’t he deceived? What goes around comes around. He is hungry for power. He is a bargainer… a blackmailer who has done huge damage to Bihar. He is not a leader,” Mr Yadav declared.
भाजपा के नेताओं को दिल्ली से पटना तक तेजस्वी यादव का यह बाइट ज़रूर सुकून देगा जिसमें उन्होंने नीतीश कुमार के नेताओं द्वारा भाजपा पर ‘ विश्वासघात ‘ के आरोप पर कहा कि यही तो नीतीश जी सबके साथ करते आये हैं ।@india @Anurag_Dwary @सुओर pic.twitter.com/WBae5is42P
— manish (@manish) January 10, 2021
Ties involving Nitish Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav have been icy considering that the former ditched the RJD and Congress to go back to the BJP two years soon after they swept the 2015 election. In campaigning for the 2020 election, Mr Yadav regularly accused Mr Kumar of getting “greedy” for energy.
Tejashwi Yadav single-handedly dragged the opposition alliance, which contains the Congress, to a renowned win in the Assembly poll. The RJD completed with 75 seats to come to be the single-biggest party.